Monday, December 30, 2013

The Nursery Diaries: Chapter 2

Hi!! I hope everyone had an awesome Holiday break! We spent our Christmas in sunny Southern California with my husband's family and it was amazing. It felt like a little summer vacation in December - it was 75-80 degrees the entire time! We even enjoyed some beach time in Laguna Beach, one of my favorite places in the entire world.

It did feel awesome to have a little glimpse of summer temporarily, but honestly when we lived there I really missed winters and the coziness that comes with them. When we got home, it was also nice to put the fire on and curl up on the sofa with our animals :)

The weekend before heading out to California for Christmas, we took a quick weekend trip to Charleston. It was actually an anniversary trip scheduled in September, but I was too sick to go during my rough first tri, so we postponed. Here is a bump picture before we headed out to dinner. I'll have to do another post on that little trip... Charleston is another one of my favorite places!

Now.. on to the nursery! This is titled "Chapter 2" after all :) The very, very first purchase for the nursery was our glider. I actually bought it over two years ago. Crate & Barrel was having a huge Clearance sale to move out a lot of their floor models, and this glider was around $500. Knowing we had plans for a baby someday, I couldn't pass up the deal and bought it.

What sold me on this glider was the slipcover. I don't have much hands on experience with newborns, but I had visions of projectile spit up and I loved the idea that I can just throw the slipcover in the washer and dryer. I also feel like the style isn't too "boy" or too "girl", and it isn't too "baby" either.

For years, this glider sat in the "baby's room" as we called it just like this:

It had terrible 90's wallpaper and was used as an ironing room. We only just recently (right before I got pregnant) took down the wallpaper.

The second purchase for the nursery was the rug. It was a rather "large" purchase.. not in price, but in size. At that point, I really didn't have a plan for the design of the nursery. I knew I wanted dark walls and a masculine vibe.

Let me back up a bit and explain the layout in this baby's room... it's teeny tiny. And it's a very odd shape. It has a little "nook" area (you can see it behind the glider in the picture above) and the usable space in the room is a square. I'm not usually a fan of oval or square rugs, but in this case a square rug was the best option. So I was really happy to find some square rug options on Overstock that were very budget friendly. (I'll be honest - I didn't want to spend too much on the rug or other items that
were space-specific because the truth is, we want to move closer into town soon and I'm
not sure a square rug will fit in our next space as well.)

I purchased this rug for around $150 including tax and shipping (It's currently on sale for $135!!). And it's Indoor/Outdoor which is another plus (remember my visions of projective vomit??). And it's actually really, really soft! Overall, it was a great purchase!
Also pictured above is a little vintage lucite stool that I bought before I was pregnant. It will eventually be upholstered and used as a foot stool, like this:

I have no idea what fabric I'll be using.... there is so much more to do!

My fingers are crossed for you ... but my reality was projectile vomit x 2! You'll be happy you thought ahead. Those fluffy mohair rugs look great in a nursery, but ... well, you can use your imagination!!! Much love to you during this special time!

Love seeing what you are pulling together. I just finished Elliot's tiny nursery. We have a weird nook too... though you can't see it in the pic. The room is so small! What a steal you got on your glider. THat was a smart purchase! xoxo.

I know what you mean about warm weather. We just got back from Alabama and although the warmth was nice I looked forward to getting back to the snow and cold weather of Michigan. Love the rug, I'm going to keep checking back to see what comes next. Http://northernbellemama.blogspot.com